Help For Those That Need It: Personal Injury Lawyers Change The Outcome
A lot of folks in Des Moines have never made the distinction between a Des Moines personal lawyer and a Des Moines personal injury attorney, but get injured in an accident and it will quickly become all too clear that there is a big difference. Generally, when an accident occurs, especially when there is injury severe enough to limit one’s day to day activities, the focus is on getting healthy. When the healing does not occur immediately or when the cost of treatment begins to impact one’s financial capabilities, then the victim may become aware of the ads on the side of the bus or friends will advise them that they should get a lawyer.
Jane was running an errand in her car when she came to a red light. She was behind two cars, a Volvo in front of a Mercedes which was in front of her. Suddenly she heard a loud screech from behind and was hammered by a Toyota Prius. Her car, a Samurai Suzuki, was pushed into the Mercedes and the Mercedes hit the Volvo in front of it. Jane hit the steering column and fell back into her seat as the airbag exploded. She immediately crawled out of her crushed vehicle and walked around in shock getting information from all the other drivers. A kind policeman called a towing service for her totaled vehicle and allowed her to sit in his car as her knees and elbows were scraped and bleeding and she had a big purple knot on her collarbone.
Jane decided her injuries were not that bad and did not go to the hospital. She went home, took a few Tylenols and crawled into bed. The following day she called all the insurance people and started the ball rolling. Since she had only the most minimal coverage she was unaware that someone’s insurance could pay for a car rental until she could get her car fixed or buy a new one. She was unable to get to work for several days while she figured out what to do with transportation.
Three days later, Jane woke up with shooting pains in her neck and back. She was unable to turn her head or bend. A friend took her to the doctor, where x-rays were performed. The x-rays showed no fractures, so the doctors said she had whiplash, gave her a neck brace, pain-killers and anti-inflammatories and sent her home. Jane was unable to work. Jane had no car. Physical Therapy and Chiropractic Care was suggested, but she she was working as a waitress and wasn’t able to pay for either of those as her minimal health coverage required a large deductible. A friend suggested that she should hire a lawyer.
After listening to her story, the lawyer friend was very happy to take her case, even though it wasn’t the kind of law he normally did. He said that she should get a large settlement as the other cars had little damage with no injuries and hers was totaled. He told her to keep keep a record of what she spent for health care. The problem was she couldn’t afford to spend on health care and not being an expert in this kind of law, he didn’t know that they based the amount of injury settlement on how much medical attention, as defined by dollars, had been gotten. Jane eventually lost her job as she was unable to continue at the previous pace and her neck continued to bother her for the rest of her life.
One year later, a settlement was reached. Bt this time her lawyer had completely lost interest in her case and often reminded her that this was just a favor for a friend of his. In the litigated case four plaintiffs filed complaints. The Mercedes had a passenger who was suing as well as the driver of the car and the driver of the Volvo. While their cars had little damage, they had, as advised by their personal injury lawyer, received as much treatment as possible. This treatment included weekly massages and many other forms of therapy. None of the other plaintiffs missed any work. The judge returned a decision based solely on the amount of treatment received. Though her car was destroyed and she had obviously suffered the most loss the other plaintiffs received double what Jane received.
Jane discovered the hard way that while personal injury lawyers sometimes receive a bad rap, when you have an accident and it is not your fault, it helps to call in the experts.